The Destiny of War
by Hauraunah
Summary: Ares discovers a long abandoned, hidden temple of the dead Egyptian Goddess Najananeerah, Goddess of Chaos and Discord within the realms of war. Returning to Greece he sets out to find her reincarnation and mold her into the warrior he's longed for.


Standing tall, arrogant, and ever so proud, Ares the infamous God of War trekked his way through the mounds of rubble, within the long buried, long forgotten temple. The temple of Najnaneerah, a long dead, and once immensely powerful Goddess of chaos and discord within the realms of war. All statues of her physical likeliness were either stolen or destroyed over the past centuries, but what led him there, in the land of Egypt, was tale of a mural left untouched. Written in ancient Sanskrit long lost to the people, distinct carvings of a woman with fire for hair gazed at him. "Read it," his baritone voice boomed ever so sternly and yet gentle. The Egyptian male trembled, praying to Gods of his own. "Please," he graveled before Ares. "Have mercy, my even being here is forbidden! How wrathful my gods will be," Ares turned around, forearm rested upon the hilt of his sword. "Your Gods?" he stepped away from the bewitching mural and towards the cowering mortal. "I think you should be more concerned with the fury of my wrath," he charged a bolt of lightning at a rather large boulder. The massive hunk of stone exploded within an instant, rendered as many little stones with dust settling in the air. The Egyptian male shrieked. Ares stood proud before him. "I brought you here, because you can read that writing on the wall. Rest assured if you do this for me, your family shall go unharmed," he paused turning to the side, looking back at the mural. "If you don't, from here on out you'll live the rest of your life mourning your wife and children," he said with a menacing force. The man nodded gloomily, approaching the stone wall. "It says that the Goddess Najnaneerah was once human like the rest of us, born as a vessel to the Gods, namely the God of War Onuris," Ares arched an eyebrow, in interest. "Continue," he politely urged. "With the aid and watch of Onuris, Najnaneerah grew to be an unsurpassed warrior which angered the people and the Gods alike. Angry at their Gods for not shielding them from the wrath of the fatal two, the people stopped paying tribute and began to curse the Gods as much as they once praised them. They lost all fear for the Gods never witnessing their powers as they did Onuris and Najnaneerah." The Egyptian began to read with passion and fear, as if parts of the story were new to him as well. "Tired of the chaos and blasphemy, all of the Egyptian Gods came together and struck down Najnaneerah," he looked back at Ares and went back to reading. "It was hard, for she was immensely powerful, but her youth was her downfall, her powers had yet to manifest," he stopped. "And what of this 'Onuris', what of him?" Ares pressed on. "As punishment, the all mighty Ra stripped Onuris of his powers and made him mortal."

"Is that it?" The God of War grew anxious.

"No, wait," the man said, reading faster. "Legend has it that the bloodlines of Najnaneerah were banned from Egypt," Ares stepped beside the man scanning the foreign scripture. "Where are they now?"

"I do not know, the scripture does not say,"

"You wouldn't happen to be lying now would you?"

"No! I swear! It says that it is forbidden to say and the creator of this mural does not even know himself," the man trembled with fear as he watched anger slowly boil within Ares. "All it says is 'History shall repeat itself but never in the same place. Look for hair as red as the fires of hell and the eyes of a meadow mid frost.'" Ares stroked his goatee. "And that is all?" The man stood, nodding frantically. "Yes! Yes I swear! Now please, spar my family and I!" he clasped his hands together as if in prayer. "Very well. I shall let you live, and if it comes to pass that what you've read to me is false, I will return." Disappearing in a ray of light and fire, the ominous God left the temple.

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In a humble little home, on a quaint little farm, in the land of Greece, a man and a woman prayed. "Daphnis my beautiful wife, we grow old and lonely and the last of our kind. It is time we have a child," he stroked her cheek ever so gently as he squeezed her other hand. She looked down and shook her head. "Cleon we cannot. You know that," Cleon rose from the table in a passionate anger. "Then what are we to do, my love? Let our once proud and noble bloodline die with us on a farm, in a foreign land?" Daphnis rose as well. "This land is not foreign it has been our home for five generations. The people here have been good an accepting of us and we've lived a happy and peaceful life, can you not be grateful for that?"

"I want a child, Daphnis. I refuse to let our ancestors legacy die with us,"

"This is the way it was meant to be, as it should be!"

"Do you seriously believe history shall repeat itself? Najnaneerah is dead as well as Onirus, Ra and the other gods made sure of that,"

"Yes and what your asking is to reverse that all!"

"We are in a new land under new gods, beloved. We have no Onirus here!"

Daphnis crossed her arms. "We do have a God of War, though."

"Do you think he knows anything of us or our history?"

"I don't know,"

"Exactly," Cleon said softly sitting back down, taking her hands in his. "You're a female of the bloodline and yet you are not the reincarnated Goddess, what makes you think that our child will be? It's been hundreds of years, and whose to say it all happened anyway?" Daphnis sighed softly. "My mother was of Najnaneerah's blood line, my father was not," she thought about his logic. Cleon took Daphnis' hand in his. She sighed softly. She could no longer fight and deny her desires, their desires. She nodded, taking his face in her hands, pressing her lips softly against his.

"Mommy! Mommy! Watch me!" the girl giggled as she sparred with her father. Daphnis sat in the shade waving. "I see you honey! Go easy on your father!" Love welled inside her and busted, only to reform again. Once Neerah was born things became so bright. She felt like she was finally living life. She didn't know she could be this happy with Cleon. She stared at her daughters flame red locks. Cleon also had the blood of an Egyptian, but his family did not share the same bloodline of the ancient Goddess. She pushed those thoughts from her mind, looking down at the dress she was sewing for Neerah. Her thought's were interrupted by a piercing scream. Daphnis rose to her feet quickly, knocking down her project. Men were approaching. The were armed, heavily. Neerah peered at them from behind her father, grasping tightly to his pant leg. Daphnis ran inside to the bedroom and grabbed her bow and arrows. She ran back outside, frozen on the porch. Perhaps by some miracle they were only looking for directions. Her heart slammed in her chest. This band of men were apparently nothing more than a pack of common thieves and thugs. Though they had horses, they had no archers, nothing but a bunch of green horn swordsmen. Their fighting skills didn't frighten her, it was their numbers. She and Cleon weren't as young as they used to be. How long had it been since they engaged in the sacred arts of Onirus and Maat? She feared for Neerah most of all. "Cleon?" She called out to her husband, letting him know she was behind him, completely. Cleon looked back and nodded. They were getting closer, laughing in such a crude and disrespectful manner. Those with horses stayed behind to watch. Cleon dropped his wooden play sword and squeezed the handle of his actual sword. After a good sparing session he'd shoe Neerah some of his old moves. He felt her tugging his clothes. He looked down at her. She looked up at him. Young, green eyes asked questions that he could no answer.

"Go to your mother," he said gently.

"No, I'm staying here with you," She shook her head, tightening her grip.

"Neerah," he started, before he was cut off. "Hey there, old man." Cleon held his chin high, looking at what must have been no more than a messenger boy, or a General. "Yes? How can I help you?" His words were stern but his tone was polite. The greasy mongrel laughed, looking onto his comrades. "We were passing through the neighborhood taking up donations and wondered if you'd be so kind as to donate to a good cause," he stood tall crossing his arms. Cleon took a calm breath. "We have but little money but can give you warm clothes and perhaps food for your travel." The men fell into a fit of laughter. Neerah kept her eyes on the ugly goon before her father. What did he say that was so funny? He looked at her and made a face. Her face was as stone like as her father's. "I don't think you understand, Gramps," he unsheathed his sword. "Give us everything you have now or else," Before anymore could be said an arrow shot through the man's skull like lightning. "Leave us or else!" Daphnis screamed forward. Cleon shot fourth and impaled the other two men on his sword, snatching up a screaming Neerah and running towards the house. He heard the battle cries of men as the hooves of beastly steeds charged forward.

Daphnis reached for Neerah. "I'm sorry Cleon, but I had to!" She tried to stay strong in front of her weeping daughter. He cupped her cheeks and gave her a brief. "Do not apologize. They were set in their ways the moment they approached us," He looked at the rapidly approaching group. "Take Neerah while I hold them off." "No," she handed the girl back to her husband. "I have a better range than you. Take her." He nodded and carried the girl into their bedroom. Daphnis readied her bow with three arrows. She gave a silent prayer to the Gods.

Neerah sobbed harshly as her father soothed her. He stepped into the bed room and sat her on the bed as he began to seal the windows. "Neerah I want you to stay in this room until your mother and I say it's okay to come out, okay?" Neerah spoke through a fit of tears. "Who are those men?! Why did mommy kill that person?! Are they going to kill us?!" After securing the windows, he knelt before his daughter. "Promise me Neerah," He gave a stern stare. She nodded whipping her eyes. "I promise." He smiled, wanting to cry. He hugged her and pressed his lips against her forehead. "My, what a big girl you've become. You know that your mother and I love you more than life itself right?" She nodded and he held her at arms length, drinking her in. There was a good chance he would never see her again. He caressed her soft hair. "Remember what daddy told you." He grabbed his sword and left the room, sealing the door shut. If he and Daphnis couldn't walk away from this alive, then they'd make sure they took down every one of those bastards. Their daughters life depended on it.

Hours later, the God of War finally made it onto the scene. His sources had informed him of a battle going on between couple and a gang of warriors, their timing off a bit. He was told this couple had a child. Once the child was described as a young girl with blood red locks, he soon took up a strong interest in what his informers had to say. As he walked amongst the dead bodies, he could recognize their armor. Vesias was their leader, but he was no where to be seen among the corpses, and Ares didn't expect to him to be, said to be an exceptional fighter he was never one to get his hands dirty. After losing in fight against Xena, he thought better of asking the Warlord to lead his army. Brown eyes of steel gazed at the quaint farm house. He hadn't expected the fight to be over so soon. He saw no sign of the couple which meant they were still alive. Did they flee and take their child with them? If the girl was dead, the one who delivered him the message would pay dearly. Had he been informed sooner, he might have been able to prevent her death. He made his way into the house, looking around. None of the warriors seemed to make it inside, the house was still intact. He approached a small table with what looked to be the makings of a white dress on it. A loud rumble snatched him from his thoughts. He proceeded with caution. As the God of War he feared no man, but a child was different. If he didn't watch his strength, he could very well be her murderer. He stood before a simple wooden door. The rumbled came from the room behind it. His assumptions were soon proven truthful when another rumble vibrated through the wood. It was as if someone, or thing was slamming itself against it. He heard a soft whimper. A sinister grin spread across his lips. He sent a hot white shock of energy to the doorknob, unsealing the door. Almost instantaneously, a young girl fell against the door, falling forward into him. He stood his ground looking down at her. "Well, well. What do we have here?" His base like voiced boomed gently. The child looked up at him. "The eyes of a meadow mid frost," he murmured, the Egyptian translators words came to his memory. The child backed up in fear, looking him up and down. Fear was soon replaced by anger. She balled up her fists and lunged at him. He tilted his head to the side, amused. Evidently she knew not who he was. "Where is my mommy!?" She ordered, pummeling him as hard as her little hands would allow. "What have you done with my daddy!?" She stopped to catch her breath, looking up at the tall, dark male waiting for his answer. Ares crossed his arms. "I have no idea," he said simply. She gasped and pushed past him running outside. He turned around. He'd finally found his warrior, his 'seed of evil', his bringer of death and wrath. He watched as she ran out past the fallen corpses calling for her parents. He walked outside and leaned against the door frame. "Where are they!?" She screamed, running back up to him, her eyes grew wetter by the second. "The surviving men of Vesias not doubt ordered them to brought back to him where he would kill them." He walked before her. "I want them back," Her tears did little to extinguish the fire in her eyes. "I can help you get them back," He offered her his hand. She looked at it and at him. She looked at all the death around her. She nodded, taking his hand. "Alright,"

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Author's Note: I've been waiting for the inspiration to come back to me and I got fed up and finally had to force it. I've been writing another fan fiction along side this one for 'The Mummy' after having been inspired by a dream. I have no abandoned Batman, I'm actually half way done with what I posted. If anyone reads my fanfics please review me, even if it's to say 'hi' or 'boo'. Feed back will definitely keep me inspired to keep writing. The Mummy will be a one shot, but with the disappearing of all episodes of Xena online (Spikebad please comeback) I don't know how long my Xena fan fiction will be. Please Read and Respond! Yell at me to write or something! Anything!


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